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Touted as an enabling platform for applications ranging from personalized medicine to personal drones, 3-D printing will grow to an $8.4 billion market in 2025—up from $777 million in 2012, according to a recent report by Lux Research.

After a successful first year in which it demonstrated the potential of operating real-time particle sensors in engine exhaust systems, the Particle Sensor Performance and Durability (PSPD) consortium will focus its second year of research on improving the sensors’ durability and reliability.

Raytheon Co. was awarded an $8 million contract with NASA Goddard Space Center to upgrade the command, control, and telemetry (CCT) subsystems of the Earth Observing System (EOS). Enhancing the CCT subsystem will allow NASA to lower maintenance costs by exploiting automation and virtualization technologies, reducing the number of machines that need to be maintained by 69%.

The U.S. Air Force selected Lockheed Martin to modernize the air tasking order capabilities within the Theater Battle Management Core System (TBMCS). As the 'engine of the Air Operations Center,' TBMCS directs flying operations for all airborne assets, including fighters, bombers, tankers, UAVs, helicopters, and cruise missiles.

Bristow Helicopters Ltd., which has been awarded the contract by the U.K. Department for Transport to provide Search & Rescue (SAR) services to the U.K. for 10 years, has selected the AgustaWestland AW189 SAR variant as one of the central platforms for its SAR helicopter program.

Eaton announced April 20 that it will double capacity at its Jining, China, plant to meet growing customer demand in the region for its valve and valvetrain products and technologies. Located within the Eaton campus in Jining Shandong province, the expansion began this year and is expected to be operational in March 2014.

Boeing will place its Brazilian research and technology center in the city of São José dos Campos’s Technological Park. The new Boeing Research & Technology-Brazil Center will open later this year in remodeled existing space at the technological park with staffing of up to 12 Boeing researchers and scientists.

Airbus has begun construction of the company’s A320 Family Assembly Line in Mobile, AL. The new assembly line, which is the company’s first U.S.-based production facility, will be located at the Mobile Brookley Aeroplex and will facilitate assembly of A319, A320, and A321 aircraft.

The high-horsepower world of motorsports is fairly isolated from the fuel-efficient realities of the auto sector, but racing industry veterans have a few suggestions for reigniting the flame of relevancy.

Automotive engineers have been combining electronics and mechanical systems for years, but they’re still figuring out how to efficiently model and simulate mechatronic systems. Sharing files between disciplines remains an issue along with the challenge of creating models for use in different applications.

The high quality of diagnostic information is driving a change in the way these data are being used. Vehicle designers are devising techniques that use this information to determine when components and systems are going out of range, which indicates that it’s time for maintenance.

Jesse Schneider, as the lead of SAE’s J2601 Working Group on Hydrogen Fueling Protocol, gave an update on J2601 on April 17 at the SAE 2013 World Congress in Detroit. He also works at BMW as the Manager of Fuel Cell EV, Hydrogen, and Standards Development.

Debby Bezzina, Senior Program Manager for Safety Pilot Model Deployment at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, talks about where the program stands today and where it goes after completion in August 2013.

Technologies such as adaptive cruise control and lane-departure warning are doing more than improving safety today. They’re also setting the stage for autonomous vehicles, showing buyers that the technology works while building volumes that will eventually help make autonomous vehicles affordable.

The lab runs fuel-economy tests with A/C on maximum vs. A/C "comfort level," A/C-off and with windows open and closed. Some results are surprising, including an unexpected "crossover" point in testing on a Toyota Corolla.

As powertrain engineers race to improve mileage by about 50% over the next decade, linking many sensors and controllers together so they operate in coordination shines the spotlight on the networks that provide these links. Though bandwidth requirements will soar, the ubiquitous CAN network should meet powertrain requirements for several years.